Impressions from the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 20 January. Copyright by World Economic Forum/Faruk Pinjo

Drawing from the ‘Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial’ exhibition originally organized by Cooper Hewitt and Cube design museum, this adaptation is a collaboration between the Smithsonian and the World Economic Forum (WEF). This is the fourth year that the Smithsonian and the WEF have collaborated on bringing an exhibition to the Annual Meeting in Davos. Installed in the Congress Centre, the exhibition will be offered alongside panels, workshops, and other sessions organized by the WEF that address the ecological crisis and the Forum’s major focus on sustainability.

The Department of Seaweed Prototyping Workshop is one of four installations that will encourage participants to play with natural elements, learn about the symbiotic relationships in nature, and be inspired to imagine a more cohesive approach to working with nature.

About the Department of Seaweed Prototyping Workshop at #wef20

Founded by Julia Lohmann in 2013, the Department of Seaweed brings together experts in design, science and craft to experiment with the fabrication processes and material properties of seaweed and explore possible applications of this plentiful and renewable resource. For the installation at Davos, Lohmann has created a seaweed structure, Hidaka-Ohmu, and has available living seaweed and a display of hanging, dried seaweed to show the materials used in the craft process. Participants can work with seaweed in a workshop with Lohmann’s team.